Of course, that was both the best-case and worst-case scenario.
In any case, their situation could not get any worse.
As they passed through layers upon layers of black-sand mist, Gong Qi and Gong San finally saw clearly that what lay before them was not a ferocious beast, but an enormous... statue?
Gong San had seen a little more of the world than Gong Qi. After all, she had lived several tens of thousands of years longer.
"It rather looks like the entrance to a cave abode?" Gong San said.
"The entrance to a cave abode?" The moment Gong Qi asked, she saw several figures standing or sitting beneath that massive statue.
Looking closer, the statue before them was not even the complete form of some giant beast, but merely the head of an eagle.
This eagle-head statue was colossal, seeming almost to pierce the clouds.
Its beak was stretched wide open with all its might, revealing a vast black vortex-like opening. Countless formation patterns were carved above it, and many profound, unfathomable talismans were pasted upon it.
The moment Gong Qi saw the talismans and formation patterns, her eyes lit up.
If not for the Taotie behind them being a cause for concern, she would probably have rushed forward impatiently to study them.
As the two drew closer and closer to the eagle head, Gong San reminded her, "Be careful. None of these people are easy to provoke."
Gong Qi immediately asked, "Are their cultivation levels all higher than yours?"
Gong San's face darkened, but she still restrained herself and gave Gong Qi a brief explanation. "The two black-clad man and woman on the left are about on par with me. The others are all stronger than I am."
Gong Qi said, "Then those two must be extraordinarily formidable